Floating heater to maintain hole through ice open

ABSTRACT

A hollow upstanding tubular member closed at its lower end and weighted at its bottom so as to float upright in a body of water with but a small portion of the upper end of the housing projecting above the water level. A liquid fuel burner is positioned in a lower portion of the housing for heating the latter from its interior and a horizontally disposed and vertically shiftable damper is mounted within the housing above the liquid fuel burner for varying the height of the flame of the burner and snuffing the wick of the burner out as desired. When the heated upright housing is disposed within an upstanding opening formed in a layer of ice covering a body of water, the water within the ice opening or hole will be sufficiently heated, even in sub-zero temperatures, to maintain the ice hole open.

United States Patent 1191 Hedstrom Apr. 3%, 1974 [75] Inventor: GilbertHedstrom, Alexandria,

Minn.

[73] Assignees: John J. McCarten; Ralph S. Tillitt,

both of Alexandria, Minn. part interest to'each [22] Filed: July 14,1972 [21] Appl. No.: 271,656

Great Britain 126/360 R Primary Examiner-Carroll B. Dority, Jr.Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence A. OBrien; Harvey B. Jacobson [57]ABSTRACT A hollow upstanding tubular member closed at its lower end andweighted at its bottom so as to float upright in a body of water withbut a small portion of the upper end of the housing projecting above thewater level.' A liquid fuel burner is positioned in a lower portion ofthe housing for heating the latter from its interior and a horizontallydisposed and vertically shiftable damper is mounted within the housingabove the liquid fuel burner for varying the height of the flame of theburner and snuffing the wick of the burner out as desired. When theheated upright housing is disposed within an upstanding opening formedin a layer of ice covering a .body of water, the water within the iceopening or hole will be sufficiently heated, even in sub-zerotemperatures, to maintain the ice hole open.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FLOATING HEATER TO MAINTAIN HOLE THROUGH ICEOPEN In the frigid areas of the country fishing through the ice in thewintertime has become an ever increasing pastime. The ice on lakes andstreams in the northern United States freezes to a thickness of 36 ormore inches, depending on the temperature, and to greater or lesserthicknesses in other parts of the country, depending on the temperatureand geographic location.

In order to fish through the ice, it is necessary to remove sufficientice to insert a fishline and to extract a fish when a fish is caught.When the ice is thick, the hole through the ice is conventionally madewith a incl auger which is either manually operated or operated by a.gasoline engine. Once an ice hole has been opened, it will freeze closedagain unless some means is provided to maintain the temperature of thewater in the hole above-freezing.

The heater of the instant invention has been specifically designed to befloated within an ice hole and to generate sufficient heat in itsinterior to enable the heat transfer from the exterior wall surfaces ofthe heater to the ambient water to prevent the ice within the ice holefrom freezing.

The heater is in the form of a closed bottom and upwardly openingtubular housing which is weighted at its lower end so as to float in anupright position with only a small portion of the upper end of thehousing projecting above the water in which the housing is floated. Aremovable liquid fuel burning wick-type heater is positioned in thelower portion of the housing and a combined chimney and damper assemblyis positioned over the wick of the heater with the damper beingsupported for vertical shifting to vary the discharge of combustiongases from the heater and the spacing of the damper above the wick ofthe heater. Thus, the damper not only serves as an obstacle to the freeflow of combustion supporting fresh air about the wick, but also as ameans to throttle the escape of combustion gases from the housing and tosnuff out the flame of the wick when desired.

The main object of this invention is to provide a heater which may befloated in an ice hole and utilized to maintain the water in the icehole above freezing temperatures.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ice heater constructedin a manner whereby the heat generated thereby may be readilycontrolled.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a floatingheaterconstructed in'a manner whereby ready access to the liquid fuel burningheater thereof is afforded.

A further object of this invention is to provide a heater which may beused to heat a fish house disposed on the ice over an ice hole, whetherthe heater is disposed on the floor of the house or floating in the icehole.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide a floating heater for ice holes which will conform toconventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy touse so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, longlasting and relatively trouble free in operation.

These togetherwith other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a planepassing through the center of an ice hole and with the heater of theinstant invention floated in the water within the ice hole;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional viewtaken substantially upon a plane passing through the longitudinalcenterline of the heater;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the planeindicated by the section line 33 of FIG. 2; V

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustrating thetelescopingly engageable upper ends of the outer housing and innertubulr chimney portions of the heater; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the heater indicating themanner in which the various components thereof are assembled.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10generally designates the heater of the instant invention. The heater 10includes an upstanding cylindrical housing 12 having cylindrical sidewall portions 14 and a bottom wall 16. An axially short cylindricalweight'container referred to in general by the reference numeral 18 isprovided for receiving a selected quantity of buckshot 20 and thecontainer 18 includes an upper wall 22 having a central opening 24therein in which a closure member 26 is removably seated. The container18 includes a pivoted bail-type handle 28 supported from the top wall 22and accordingly, the container 18, with the proper quantity of buckshot20 therein, may be lowered by means of its bail-type handle 28downwardly into the lower end of the housing 12 for support from thebotom wall 16.

The heater 10 also includes an axially short upstanding cylindrical tankreferred to in general by the reference numeral 30 and the tank 30comprises the reservoir of a liquid fuel burning heater referred to ingeneral by the reference numeral 32. The tank 30 includes a top wall 34having a centrally disposed and upwardly projecting threaded neck 36through which liquid fuel 38 may be poured into the tank 30. A centrallyapertured threaded cap 40 is removably threadedly engaged over the upperend of the neck 36 and a wick 42 projects through the cap 40, the lowerend of the wick 42 being disposed below the level of liquid fuel 38 inthe tank 30. The cap 40 includes a tubular neck portion 44 whichprojects upwardly from the central opening formed through the cap 40 andthrough which the wick 42 extends. A circular heat shield or discassembly referred to in general by the reference numeral 46 is providedand includes vertically spaced upper and lower centrally apertured walls48 and 50 between which a pad 52 of heat insulative material is secured,the outer marginal portions of the walls 48 and 50 being joined togetherand the heat shield 46 being downwardly seated on the neck portion 44below the upper end of the latter whereby the liquid fuel tank 30 willbe shielded from the flame 54 of the wick 42 when the latter is ignited.

A tubula chimney construction referred to in general by the referencenumeral 56 is provided and includes an inverted frusto-conical lowerportion 58 having a diametric internal brace 60 secured thereacrossprovided with a central aperture 62. A second diametric brace 64 issecured across the upper end of the chimney 56 and has a rectangularopening 66 formed in its center. Further, the underside of the brace 64has a plate 67 secured thereto having a second rectangular opening 69formed therein slightly offset relative to the opening 66. A dampershaft 68 having a smooth lower end portion is provided and the lower endportion is rotatably and slidably received through the aperture 62. Theupper end portion of the damper shaft or rod 68 includes a flattened andtwisted portion 70 extending through the openings 66 and 69 and defininga threaded connection between the shaft or rod 68 and the upper brace64, with the slightly relatively offset openings 66 and 69 frictionallyengaging the portion 70 of the rod. The upper end of the rod 68 isprovided with a control knob 72 and the lower end of the rod 68 isprovided with a circular damper plate 74 below the lower brace 60. Thedamper plate 74 is but slightly smaller in diameter than the insidediameter of the lower terminal end of the lower portion 58 of thechimney 56.

The upper end of the chimney 56 includes axially extendingcircumferentially spaced and radially outwardly projecting spacingflanges 76 which maintain the chimney 56 centered within the housing 12when the chimney 56 is telescoped downwardly into theupper end of thehousing 12. In addition, the upper end of the chimney 56 includes anannular flange 78 extending circumferentially about and projectingradially outwardly from the chimney 56, the flange 78 having an outsidediameter greater than the diameter of the upper end of the housing 12whereby the flange 78 may be abutted against the upper end of thehousing 12 to limit downward sliding movement of the chimney 56 withinthe housing 12. The flange 78 includes a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced fresh air inlet openings 80 formed therein and a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced and radially outwardly projecting elongatedabutments 82 are carried by the undersurface of the flange 78 and areseatingly receivable within upwardly opening radial notches 84 formed inthe upper edge of the housing 12. Thus, the chimney 56 may be keyed tothe housing 12 against rotation relative to the latter.

The upper end of the housing 12 includes diametrically oppositeapertured mounting ears 88 to which the opposite ends of a bail-typehandle 90 are pivotally attached. Accordingly, the handle 90 may beutilized to carry the heater 10. In operation, after a hole such as thatindicated at 92 in FIG. 1 of the drawings has been bored through a layerof ice 94, the appropriate amount of shot weight may be placed withinthe container l8 and the container 18 may be lowered into the bottom ofthe housing 12. Thereafter, the tank 30 may have liquid fuel 38 disposedtherein and the cap and heat shield 46 may be applied to the heater 32.Thereafter, the heater 32 may be lowered downwardly into the housing 12for resting upon the container 18 and appropriate means may be utilizedto ignite the wick 42. Thereafter, the chimney 56 may be lowered intoposition within the upper end of the housing 12 after it has beendetermined that the rod 68 is in an elevated position so as to elevatethe damper plate 74 above the wick 42 and above the lower terminal endof the lower portion 58 of the chimney 56. Thereafter, the knob 72 maybe turned so as to vertically adjust the rod and the damper plate 74carried thereby. The heater 10 may then be lowered into the bore 92 anda length of chain or other tension member 96 may be attached to thehandle and suitably anchored on the surface of the ice 94. With theheater 10 floating within the water in the ice hole 92, the heatgenerated within the housing 12 by the heater 32 will be absorbed by thewater within the hole 92 to prevent the water from freezing. Actually,sufiicient heat may be generated by the heater 10 in order to enlargethe hole 92 in the manner indicated as at 98.

When it is desired to extinguish the flame 54, the knob 72 is rotated soas to lower the rod 68 and the damper plate 74 carried thereby untilsuch time as the damper plate 74 contacts the upper end of the wick 42and snuffs out the flame 54.

The heater 10 may not only be utilized to maintain the hole 92 open, butmay also be used as a heater within a fish house erected upon the ice.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A heater assembly comprising an upstanding hollow housing closed atits lower end and open at its upper end, a combustible fuel type burnersupported within the lower end portion of said housing and having anupper central flame zone, a tubular chimney of appreciably smalleroutside diameter than the inside diameter of said housing supportedwithin the upper end portion of said housing, the interior of saidchimney defining a flue passage for the upward escape of combustiongases from said burner, the spacing between the exterior of said chimneyand the interior of said housing defining an air intake for combustionsupporting fresh air, the lower end of said chimney being open anddisposed at an elevation adjacent the elevation of said flame zone, thelower end of said chimney terminating downwardly at an elevation spacedabove the center of said flame zone, a horizontal damper plate, meanssupporting said damper plate in generally centered position relative tothe vertical center axis of said chimney and for vertical shifting alongsaid center axis between an upper position disposed within the lower endof said chimney and a lower position displaced downwardly to a point atleast in the lower portion of said flame zone.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the lower end portion of saidchimney tapers downwardly.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the lower end of said chimneyterminates at an elevation spaced above said flame zone.

4. A heater assembly comprising an upstanding hollow housing closed atits lower end and open at its upper end, a combustible fuel type burnerpositioned within the lower end portion of said housing and having anupper central flame zone, a tubular chimney of appreciably smalleroutside diameter than the inside diameter of said housing removablydownwardly telescoped within the upper end portion of said housing, theinterior of said chimney defining a flue passage for the upward escapeof combustion gases from said burner, the spacing between the exteriorof said chimney and the interior of said housing defining an air intakefor combustion supporting fresh air, the lower end of said chimney beingopen and disposed at an elevation adjacent the elevation of said flamezone and the center of gravity of said housing being disposed below itsvertical center and the weight of said housing being at least slightlyless than the weight of the water displaceableby said housing, the lowerend of said chimney terminating downwardly at an elevation spaced abovethe center of said flame zone, and a horizontal damper plate ofgenerally the same horizontal plan shape as the horizontalcross-sectional shape of the lower end of the chimney, means supportingsaid damper plate in generally centered position relative to thevertical center axis of said chimney and for vertical shifting alongsaid center axis between an upper position disposed within the lower endof said chimney and a lower position displaced downwardly to a point atleast in the lower portion of said flame zone.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the lower end portion of saidchimney tapers downwardly.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein the upper end portion of saidchimney includes a circumferentially extending generally radiallyoutwardly projecting abutment flange abutted against the upper end ofsaid housing, said flange having circumferentially spaced air inletopenings formed therein.

7. The combination of claim 4 wherein said combustible fuel type burnercomprises a tank for liquid fuel downwardly received within saidhousing, said tank including an upper wall having an upstanding wickreceiving tube secured therethrough, a wick extending through said tube,and a horizontally disposed heat insulative shield supported on saidtube intermediate its upper and lower ends and projecting radiallyoutwardly therefrom so as to shield the upper portion of said tankagainst heat from the flame zone disposed thereabove.

above and resting upon said weight container.

1. A heater assembly comprising an upstanding hollow housing closed atits lower end and open at its upper end, a combustible fuel type burnersupported within the lower end portion of said housing and having anupper central flame zone, a tubular chimney of appreciably smalleroutside diameter than the inside diameter of said housing supportedwithin the upper end portion of said housing, the interior of saidchimney defining a flue passage for the upward escape of combustiongases from said burner, the spacing between the exterior of said chimneyand the interior of said housing defining an air intake for combustionsupporting fresh air, the lower end of said chimney being open anddisposed at an elevation adjacent the elevation of said flame zone, thelower end of said chimney terminating downwardly at an elevation spacedabove the center of said flame zone, a horizontal damper plate, meanssupporting said damper plate in generally centered position relative tothe vertical center axis of said chimney and for vertical shifting alongsaid center axis between an upper position disposed within the lower endof said chimney and a lower position displaced downwardly to a point atleast in the lower portion of said flame zone.
 2. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein the lower end portion of said chimney tapers downwardly.3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the lower end of said chimneyterminates at an elevation spaced above said flame zone.
 4. A heaterassembly comprising an upstanding hollow housing closed at its lower endand open at its upper end, a combustible fuel type burner positionedwithin the lower end portion of said housing and having an upper centralflame zone, a tubular chimney of appreciably smaller outside diameterthan the inside diameter of said housing removably downwardly telescopedwithin the upper end portion of said housing, the interior of saidchimney defining a flue passage for the upward escape of combustiongases from said burner, the spacing between the exterior of said chimneyand the interior of said housing defining an air intake for combustionsupporting fresh air, the lower end of said chimney being open anddisposed at an elevation adjacent the elevation of said flame zone andthe center of gravity of said housing being disposed below its verticalcenter and the weight of said housing being at least slightly less thanthe weight of the water displaceable by said housing, the lower end ofsaid chimney terminating downwardly at an elevation spaced above thecenter of said flame zone, and a horizontal damper plate of generallythe same horizontal plan shape as the horizontal cross-sectional shapeof the lower end of the chimney, means supporting said damper plate ingenerally centered position relative to the vertical center axis of saidchimney and for vertical shifting along said center axis between anupper position disposed within the lower end of said chimney and a lowerposition displaced downwardly to a point at least in the lower portionof said flame zone.
 5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the lower endportion oF said chimney tapers downwardly.
 6. The combination of claim 1wherein the upper end portion of said chimney includes acircumferentially extending generally radially outwardly projectingabutment flange abutted against the upper end of said housing, saidflange having circumferentially spaced air inlet openings formedtherein.
 7. The combination of claim 4 wherein said combustible fueltype burner comprises a tank for liquid fuel downwardly received withinsaid housing, said tank including an upper wall having an upstandingwick receiving tube secured therethrough, a wick extending through saidtube, and a horizontally disposed heat insulative shield supported onsaid tube intermediate its upper and lower ends and projecting radiallyoutwardly therefrom so as to shield the upper portion of said tankagainst heat from the flame zone disposed thereabove.
 8. The combinationof claim 1 wherein the upper end of said housing includes a pivotedbail-type handle.
 9. The combination of claim 1 wherein the lowerportion of the interior of said housing has a weight container disposedtherein, said burner being positioned above and resting upon said weightcontainer.